Purists might balk, but Splinter Cell Conviction is the most playable the series has ever been, with the exacting stealth elements getting a brutal action makeover similar to how Bond was rebooted in the wake of the Bourne movies. But a better point of reference is to leave the realm of spies altogether and look to "Leon: The Professional" for the ruthless efficiency of Jean Reno's character killing from ceiling pipes and shadows.

The changes are drastic enough that they take Conviction from the realm of stealth action to third-person shooter, a move made clear by a flashback mission that has you fighting through an Iraqi highway in broad daylight. It's as good as anything from Modern Warfare, even if it feels shoehorned into the narrative and overall level design, the majority of which still involves navigating through an open area in cover of darkness. But the presence of this level so early in the game also makes it clear that brute force will play as big a role as precision.

Even more methodical elements have been simplified, as seen in the new "Mark and Execute" feature that lets you tag two to four enemies (depending on your gun) and take them out instantly in one glorious slow-motion sequence. Gaining that ability requires killing someone up close with a melee attack. That makes each area into something of a puzzle where the key is figuring how to best kill one person by hand before positioning yourself to immediately eliminate the rest. "Mark and Execute" may feel like going on autopilot, but it's satisfying in small bursts, and isn't much of a crutch later in rooms with eight or more enemies.

Instant kills notwithstanding, the game still requires a steady hand in navigating through the shadows. Anything but a clean kill alerts others to your presence, though you get a second chance with the "Last Known Position" feature that triggers a ghostly outline where you were spotted, giving you the opportunity to escape as everyone flocks to where you were. The game still requires a lot of patient strategy, but it's now forgivable enough to warrant a second, third or fourth attempt to sneak by and survive.

Unfortunately, the "Spies and Mercs" mode is missing from the multiplayer, so what we have instead is an extension of the main game. Co-op play puts you in a prequel to the primary events that are as satisfying as the single-player game, while versus modes have you hunt each down while avoiding roving squads.

Splinter Cell Conviction does away with just enough of the taxing minutiae (surely reading light meters wasn't integral) while still approximating the experience of being a highly trained special agent. It's surprising how far the game is willing to alienate its original fan base, but I'm also genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed the game with the fervor of a recent convert.

For capsule reviews of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Portable; Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon; and Spirit, see the online version of this column at sfgate.com/columns/playinggames.

Quick hits

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Portable (Developer: Arc System Works. Publisher: Aksys Games. $29.99 for PSP. ESRB Rating: Teen) Just a straight port of last summer's BlazBlue - without any new characters or even character balancing - but the original was so good it's hard to knock the nearly identical experience we get here. This should come as no surprise for PS3 users who were able to stream that version of the game to their PSP using the remote play feature, but players of the 360 version of BlazBlue (like myself) will marvel at how crisp the anime-style characters appear on the screen and responsive the controls remain despite slightly uncomfortable PSP D-pad. One concession to the portable format: The analog stick is reserved for triggering special moves, much like Street Fighter IV iPhone's special button. But BlazBlue works fine even without the need for streamlined controls, and as much as it reminds us of the importance of actual buttons it makes me even more excited for this summer's proper revamp of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift.

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (Developer: Namco, tri-Crescendo. Publisher: Xseed Games. $49.99 for Wii. ESRB Rating: Teen.) Fragile Dreams is about as hushed and precious as the title would imply, and it has the novel approach of seeing a post-apocalyptic adventure through the lens of an elegiac coming-of-age tale. As Seto, one of the last surviving members of the human race after an unmentioned catastrophe, you spend your time chasing after the glimpse of a girl seen singing to the moon. Using the Wii remote as a flashlight uncovers some poignant gems in the ruins, from the tattered remains of subway ads to everyday items imbued with the memories of people before they died. Ghosts and other feral creatures impede your progress, but mostly they're a welcome respite from wandering through one too many silent corridors, where the effect is unfortunately more coma-inducing than it is eerie.

Spirit (Developer: Marco Mazzoli. 99 cents for iPhone and iPod touch.) Think of this as the spiritual successor (pun not intended) to the old vector and trackball game Quantum. The premise is the same: Draw circles around particles to eliminate them while trying avoid colliding into them yourself. The old trackball controls were tricky to master, making the ability to directly trace a path with your finger a much more appealing prospect. But the touch-screen raises its own problems, mainly with your own finger frequently blocking the view. And the collision detection seems to be inconsistent, making it hard to figure out how much leeway you have to maneuver between objects on the small screen. A larger iPad version would be a very good idea. Still, the slick Geometry Wars-style visuals and just-one-more-game addictiveness makes Spirit a worthy distraction.